A Matter of Time
by kankakodoku
Summary: From the beginning until the end, Guy was always waiting. [full game spoilers, pairing: GuyLuke]


Ahh...this turned out rather sad. I hope you enjoy it, nevertheless!

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"Master Luke! Master Luke has been returned to us!"

The cry rang throughout the Fabre household, a joyous proclamation celebrating the return of one who had been believed lost.

Guy knelt down, cocking his head slightly at the small child in front of him, who was rather covered in dirt and grime from the long journey back to Baticul. "So, you've finally come home from your grand adventure." He reached out and ruffled Luke's hair affectionately. "Looks like someone needs a welcome home bath."

In response, Luke threw his head back and let out a long wail.

Guy grimaced and waited for him to run out of breath. The bath should probably be put off until after Lady Susanne had reunited with her son, anyway…

--

Luke was hardly a pleasure to deal with. He always wanted _this_, wanted _that_. No longer wanted _this_, no longer wanted _that_. Yet somehow, Guy didn't mind—he would always merely laugh and tell Luke to have more patience.

--

Sometimes Guy wondered when exactly he had begun to lust after Luke. Certainly, it hadn't been immediately upon his return to the castle after being 'kidnapped', at that point he had still harbored a strong hatred for the Fabre family and everything associated with it—not to mention, he didn't consider himself a pedophile. Watching Luke grow, though—somewhere in there, at some indeterminable point, he had started to develop a desire to run his hands through that lustrous red hair, and he had to make a conscious effort to take care that his touch did not linger for too long on Luke when around others so as not to raise suspicion. At first he passed it off as a sort of brotherly affection, but with time he began to realize the implications of the depth of his feelings, as well as the doom they spelled for his original motives in coming to this place.

And so he waited for Luke to mature, anticipating the day when Luke would perhaps reciprocate Guy's feelings with his own.

--

Luke was seventeen now, though he acted more like he was seven. The day he disappeared from the manor, Guy nearly had a heart attack from the shock. After Van explained what happened, he went immediately to Duke Fabre and offered to go forth and search for Luke, wherever the hyper-resonance might have landed him. On bent knee before the man responsible for the death of his family, he held his breath until the words "permission granted" reached his ears.

--

Even Guy's patience was being tested to the limit. He was normally unflappable, well adjusted and well accustomed to dealing with Luke's temper tantrums, but right now even he was on the verge of snapping and hitting the idiot over the head if he said "…because I'm the ambassador!" one more time.

--

It had been destined to happen, he supposed. Altogether, Luke was rather lucky not to have made a colossal disaster of things before this point, considering how many life-altering situations he had gotten himself thrown into after being blown to Tataroo Valley with Tear. Luke was hardly the best and brightest of Kimlasca; and although Guy still loved him dearly, his long years in Luke's service left him with a better knowledge of these things than anyone else. Except for one person, perhaps.

Van, and his manipulation of Luke…it was all crystal clear in hindsight, as all things were. Guy watched the child sink to his death in the miasma and vowed to pursue Dorian General Grants to the end of the earth if necessary. Justice might be delayed, but it would certainly be inevitable.

--

Luke's response to the whole affair was despicable.

Guy left him in disgust, swearing to himself to only return when Luke had returned to his senses…and he to his.

--

Then again, traveling with Asch was not much better. Luke had been full of innocence when returned; his doppelganger had been bent and broken into something cruel and hard and bitter in the intervening years. Guy felt a distant pity for the man, though the memory of his family prevented him from feeling any considerable amount of it. He could only tolerate so much time in the presence of the person he had once sworn to exact his revenge by killing, because when it came down to it, the hurt and pain that had inspired such a daring resolution still remained buried deep inside of his heart.

So he waited until the time was right, and took his leave.

--

Aramis Springs was a pleasant place, despite the monsters that inhabited it. The water ran crystal clear, and the air was crisp and fresh with every breath. There was a light and airy feel to the area, as if no matter what evil had come to taint the current world, no matter what dangers lay buried far below the planet's floating crust, this place and this place alone was at least somewhere that would forever remain pure.

There he remained, until Luke's path rejoined his.

--

Rem came and passed, leaving them both of them far more shaken than either cared to admit.

It was mostly desperation drove them to the act. Hormones and the buzz from close brushes with the blank finality of death left Luke shaking in Guy's embrace as the latter thrust into him, leaning down to claim his panting lips in a passionate kiss and fearing every moment that Luke was going to disappear for good as soon as it all ended.

--

Guy turned, and he left.

It was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do in his life.

Behind him, his homeland fell to dust for the second time in his life. Behind him, Lorelei left the planet's surface for the first and final time.

And _again_, Guy found himself waiting. For a sign, for a distant figure on the horizon. Anything but nothing. Anything.

--

It was a full three days before they left the field that bordered the ruins of Eldrant, at which point there were awkward words and harsh silences before everyone parted ways for the final time. They had all been hoping for his return, and yet no one emerged from the ruins. Even hope could only extend for so long. And so, they left; Tear returned to Yulia City, Anise to Daath, Natalia to Baticul, Jade to his place with the Malkuth military.

Guy remained in front of Eldrant three months longer than the rest, refining his control of the katana and enforcing a strict training regiment upon himself as he kept a keen eye on the shattered pieces of the replicated city of his birth, waiting for someone who never came.

--

It was but a matter of time, he knew, so when Peony's messenger came, he returned to take up his place in the Malkuth Empire. He still traveled on occasion, visiting those who shared some part of the pain of his loss. Primarily, though, he remained in his mansion in Grand Chokmah, on the lands granted to him by Emperor Peony. He established an extension of the Belkend fontech research facilities within the city, frequently taking home with him his work in the newly established field of electronics. Visitors to his house often wondered at the strange inventions that filled his manor; small curiosities of technology that captured the imagination and made one marvel at the intricate design and painstaking worksmanship. However, these marvels never left the Gardios mansion; tinkered and toyed with until made functional and then left to sit. Several times Guy was approached by businessmen and merchants plying for the right to manufacture and reproduce his creations—such items would doubtlessly have a market in a world increasingly reliant on machines as the power of fonons dissipated over time.

But whenever they talked to him, and whatever manner they broached the subject in, Guy would always smile softly and shake his head, only saying, "not yet, not yet." When asked what he was waiting for, he would only reveal that he needed to show them to another first.

--

Fireflies lit the night, and together they stood once more in the field. At the ruins they came together, a memorial verse piercing the night as those who had separated from Luke came together without him as they had on that day.

And through the flowers, through the falls, he returned to them at long last.

--

They shared him at first; it was only right, since his departure had left a gaping hole in all of their hearts. Eventually, though, they all went back to their normal lives, visits fewer and less frequent as time passed. Guy invited Luke to live with him, and his life became whole again for the first time since that day.

--

There was something different about Luke after he returned; he didn't smile as much as he had as a child, nor did he frown as much as he had as a teenager, expression often portraying a strange intermingling of contentment and sorrow. He also developed a nagging tendency to stare off into the distance as if his mind had taken leave of his body for the time being, which he was prone to doing without warning, and not always at the safest of times. A soft word or touch from Guy would bring him back, though, and for the most part, their time together was happy and filled with joy derived primarily from each other's company.

The years passed, and they lived their lives.

--

As ever, it was a matter of time.

As all things have a beginning, they also have an end.

Two decades they spent together in peace, before tragedy struck. It was so fast, Guy could hardly even register what had happened. One day (one moment) Luke fainted in their gardens, the next thing he knew Jade was solemnly standing and shaking his head over Luke's still form, hand drifting down to close Luke's eyes (they still stared blankly at where Guy sat, a place he had not moved for three moment-days).

The vibrant green that brought verdant spring back into his life now hidden from sight forevermore, he fell to pieces, the hand he clenched between his own with increasing desperation growing proportionally cooler with every passing minute.

--

A score of years passed in idle time for Guy; no longer was he the renowned inventor of the Malkuth Empire; he had long since given up such gimmicks and willingly sold off the rights to those who asked for whatever price they desired. At fifty, he was no longer young, passing the threshold into old age with a sigh and a glance upward to the fon belt in the sky. Aside from Luke, none of their original group had departed from the world yet, but their time was soon approaching.

--

Peony found him in his library, collapsed on the floor with a weather-beaten, timeworn text in his hand. After calling for help and all that that entailed, he was left with the book Guy had been reading: a title-less tome, pages filled with a barely legible script that became somewhat (but not much) clearer as the account progressed. Flipping to the inside cover, he found writing inscribed in a much more graceful manner on the front jacket:

_From Guy Cecil_

_To Luke fon Fabre_

_AD 2011_

_--_

Guy was not alone when he passed; his illness bound him to bed for a space of two weeks and no longer, but it was enough time for them to gather. Tear bowed her head, Anise looked away, and Jade bore an expression of grim fatality: the oldest of the group now having seen two of those once beneath his care pass into the nether realms where his skills could not reach, no matter how hard he tried. Natalia, hair now streaked with grey as much as blonde, watched his lips move as he breathed his last, and she dared imagine that she could make out what he seemed to be saying:

_Wait for me, Luke. I'm coming. _


End file.
